Seventeen Savannah families have spent $1.6 million for new homes over the past several years using Individual Development Accounts because they learned to navigate their finances.

On the other hand, about $9.3 million in Earned Income Tax Credits went unclaimed in 2004 by about 4,640 eligible families in large part because they did not possess the financial literacy to claim the credit.

The two programs, both promoting financial literacy, illustrate the barriers facing mayors and public officials nationwide who are trying to use wealth-building to get citizens out of poverty.

"Becoming financially literate is a long-term process that, for many people, requires assistance from institutions outside the home," said Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson.

His comments came on the eve of the third annual "Dollar Wise" week, which begins here Monday, to promote the U.S. Conference of Mayors' "National Dollar Wise Campaign: Financial Education for America."

A series of meetings, targeting banks and lenders, schools, churches and local officials will be held at various locations throughout the week.

The goal is to provide education aimed at prospective home buyers and homeowners, including students, senior citizens, immigrants and members of the community unfamiliar with the benefits of banking.

"The most important investors in American cities are families and individuals,"Johnson said. "There is no better time than now for Savannah citizens to take advantage of programs and activities geared toward financial management and prosperity."

The effort in Savannah has focused on collaborate initiatives by such groups as the nonprofit Neighborhood Improvement Association, the United Way of the Coastal Empire and several local banks, including Carver State, SunTrust and Wachovia.

Those are now joined in collaboration with StepUp Savannah's Poverty Reduction Initiative, which brings local businesses to the table.

Daniel Dodd, project director for StepUp, said Edward Chisolm, executive director of NIA, spearheaded planning and is the champion for StepUp's Asset Building Team.

Dodd said "financial education" is key to asset building, the "cornerstone for building wealth and moving families out of poverty."

Locally, such efforts are not new.

Johnson, then executive director of Chatham-Savannah Youth Futures Authority, and Chisolm created NIA in 1996 in response to decades of poverty in Savannah's inner-city.

Chisolm said his group collaborated with the local United Way for the IDA program in 2001. United Way pledged $100,000 in a four-to-one match for those new homeowners completing the program.

The IDA program requires the prospective homeowners to put aside $1,200 of their own money while completing a financial literacy class. The United Way matches with $4,800. The resulting $6,000 represents a down payment on a home.

Gregg Schroeder, United Way president, said his group remains committed to IDA programs.

"It fills one of our priority areas of helping families achieve self sufficiency and take part in the American dream," Schroeder said.

United Way has worked with NIA and several banks, including Wachovia, SunTrust and Carver State, he said.

"When we expend that sum ($100,000), we'll go back to the board and refill the bucket," Schroeder said.